Donner Vs Gibson ES-335 | Is the Difference Worth over $5,000?!

This Donner DJP-1000 Jazz Guitar goes up against the Gibson Custom 1964 ES-335 Reissue. How do they sound compared to each other? How do they feel? Only one way to find out...
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~~ Time Codes ~~
0:00 - Blind Test/Intro
1:07 - For all you Spec Nerds...
2:25 - Sound Comparisons (Clean, Overdrive, Rhythm & Leads)
5:32 - Lets talk FEEL, PLAYABILITY, and SOUND
6:45 - Sound Comparison (IN A MIX)
8:23 - One BIG issue, MY thoughts, and Blind Test results

[@kevbob]

Pretty impressive sound out of that Donner, no question.

[@MattKellyMusic]

can't deny that!

[@ollitrop46]

Did you know that the name "335" Gibson put on the model at it's first run, was because it was priced at $335.00?

[@mr.giggles4995]

So now the donner has become the new 335 and the Gibson is now a 6000? 🤔

[@BrunoAuclair]

The différence of sound was not very clear for me, with the equipment i have (iPhone 14 pro + airpods pro). But for 5000$ VS 400$, the choice is more than clear ! Thanks for this review 😊

[@peteJoseph-x3h]

Is the Donner better than an Epiphone 335? That would be a better comparison .

[@haralabospap7091]

That's what I thought. Comparing two guitars that are approximately 4000€ apart is almost nonsensical. Yes, the guitar that costs about 10 times more is noticeably better, shocker. How about the guitar that is in the same bracket?

[@Joe-mz6dc]

That would be a good comparison. If I had to guess the Donner would probably be superior.

[@RobVespa]

Ha. I didn't expect this, but I preferred option B at the opening. Wow.

[@osobellasneverland6472]

Got the guitar A’s awesome sound at the beginning, awesome comparison ❤❤❤

[@tonyhoodlass1846]

My Alden sound's Great for the money and look's stunning, Good review

[@danandbaggyshow]

I love my dlp 124 it's awesome plays so well and I was not expecting that after owning a fender American

[@360soar]

impressive common sense approach and perspective on the a/b comparison, Listening in person I'm sure would be totally different, but yes, I got it wrong...lol I actually have the Donner, and it's quite nice.

[@gabrielcarpenter8251]

Not withstanding one cannot tell the difference in feel which is very important. I did notice you did not use the neck pickup on the Donner for the heavy lead portion of the comparison which I wish you did do otherwise great job !

[@TheBdriver]

Really not a lot of tonal difference in the sound comparison segment. But I did notice your vibrato on the Gibson is giving slightly more English than on the Donner. Are the strings tighter on it ? Did you find it less easy to bend strings on ? You spoke of not wanting to struggle playing a guitar near the end. I'm curious about the bending though. Wondering if you even noticed you were less aggressive about it with the Donner

[@frankus54]

Great demo. What would be great id comparing the Donner against an Epiphone or Harley Benson or the like. The new Gibsons seem pretty good but there are a lot of pretty average examples around from various production periods where they weren't very good. Thanks

[@MattKellyMusic]

I've heard terrible things about Harley Benson. They asked me to do videos but after doing some research, I decided not to. Epiphone on the other hand, not too shaby!

[@frankus54]

Thanks. I know spending extra money on pickups and other potentially expensive mods can be throwing money away, but I know of an Epiphone Sheratan owner who added a second hand pair of quality brand pickups/pots etc and transformed the guitar. There are a lot of ~ $500.00 Chinese and Indo/Phillipine guitars around and some are apparently quite good. The Sire Larry Carlton 335 with the P90's option is apparently stunning. Also might be worth a look

[@kdakan]

I didn't try the Gibson but I have an Epiphone ES-335 and played the Donner in the shop. I liked the thicker neck on the Donner, and liked the single coil option on each pickup as well, it can give a clean semi-acoustic guitar sound with the split coils. If I were to buy one now, I would buy the Donner for half the price I paid for Epiphone. There is a slight tonal difference but it's easy to get similar if not the same sounds from these guitars by adjusting the treble or presence knob on the amp. Also, it seemed to me the body was slightly thicker on the Donner compared to the Epithone, but I'm not sure because I didn't have them side by side. The Donner pickup sounds like it has higher output and compressed, but this can be backed off a bit by lowering the pickups.

[@1minutecomicswalahollywood648]

Hello Matthew, I am a new subscriber.

[@MattKellyMusic]

Thanks for watchin!

[@EddieG1888]

The Gibson seems to have it a bit more in the lows and low-mids, but I think if you stuck a set of decently voiced pickups in that Donner and had it set up and maybe even Plek'd, it could easily hold its own against the Gibson.

[@williamroberts8174]

The Donner is said to have neck through construction instead of s set neck. Is that true?

[@michaelk7194]

yes

[@chaeg5477]

I would love to own something like this one day

[@MattKellyMusic]

you'll get it

[@daniegrove5658]

Gibson prices are off the charts 🙈🙈🙈the Donner sounds great 👍🎸

[@handybunny]

Thanks for the comparison! Donner sounds pretty darned good.

[@MattKellyMusic]

It really do don’t it

[@jimmacdonald3868]

Donner makes great stuff. The Gibson sounds better, plays better but for the money?

[@mathewfoley1531]

I would like gretsch streamliner g2622 p90 model comparision

[@charlene2400]

to me, the Donner performed better on your "solo" section, while it had a couple clipped notes in the preceding part.

[@user-ms1op8pt9y]

I can hear the difference me personally I don’t think it’s a 6000 dollar difference I would go for the donner

[@Marco-HidalgoMusicRecords]

8:45 If I have the budget for a 5k guitar I wouln´t be watching this video buddy!!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@garyatkins4479]

I have the opportunity to buy a mint epiphone inspired by Gibson with a case for 700 These dinners are 564 with taxes in Canada .. without a case what would you do ?

[@MattKellyMusic]

If you want to save a buck, go for Donner but I do not know much about the Epiphone

[@robertcalef4242]

I have one getting delivered on Tuesday for $327. Course in the US.

[@BPF0492]

@@robertcalef4242 Fretworks bad on the donner. Otherwise fine. I just swapped pickups and hardware on mine. Loving it.

[@robertcalef4242]

@@BPF0492 I would be interested to know what you put in for pick ups. What was the ballpark cost and did you do it yourself.

[@BPF0492]

@@robertcalef4242 Nothing to fancy for niow. I was more concerned with the pots and getting thhose swapped out. I did do it myself but had a tech wrap up the last 2 knobs and have a run through of it. It was around $150 US for all the hardware (bridge, saddle, tail piece, tuning machines, pickups, knobs.) Plus the pups, harness/pots ect ect

[@mainsblanches8793]

Is it me or is the fact that using digital effects from the Neural DSP plug-ins will kind of neutralize the differences between the two guitars?...

[@Guitarman20]

The Gibson ES-335 sounds much better. But who is surprised...

[@pointeddown]

I think for the price difference you can safely say, that each is well suited for its specific market. What if the market was the Donner vs. A Gretsch streamliner G2622t which is about 50-100 bucks more?

[@limitededition1053]

Or just a basic Gibson ES 335?

[@robertayers1804]

Gibsons are nicer and built better, but not all have that Gibson price to pay like a few 1000's, still have to live these days. The Donner needs a good advance set of jazz pickups, a little tweaking and a nice setting up and you will have a nice guitar without busting your bank account wide open.

[@MattKellyMusic]

nicely said 👏

[@michaelk7194]

it doesn't need a jazz setup unless your intention is to play jazz only... just put heavier strings on the Donner, as they are 10's vs 12 or 13's on a jazz setup

[@DJCJ999]

No shit the Gibson rules and I could hear that in the blind demo but the real question is… is the Gibson worth its sale price? The Donner is priced the same as all the other budget 335 clones and some could argue that the rosewood fretboard is enough to push it ahead of the Epi dot and make it a worthy contender against any of the inspired by Gibson copies. The shootout should really be against the Harley Benton, Eastman, Cort and a bundle of rando-named Chinese copies. The only thing that makes a “beginners” or “budget” guitar “bad” is the QC and setup out the box…. No beginner knows how to set up a guitar or recognise fret issues and a guitar with a crap but and high action is kryptonite to a new players enthusiasm.

[@Gman9253]

just copped the donner for 180

[@omwilsonow]

Wow I thought B was the Gibson!

[@limitededition1053]

Most people don't need a custom shop Gibson, for gigging take the Donner anyday.

[@michaelmcwilliams8409]

I was on the Donner website and a user made the comment that this was a "kit" guitar. Seriously?

[@charleskiplinger9904]

I'd say that unless you are playing in the professional realm the Donner gives more bang for the buck. Think I'll order one to play around with.

[@user-du6uh3xv7i]

Donner for my opinion song better of Gibson Donner number 1 for me 👍👍👍

[@peskypesky]

I'll take the Donner. No question.

[@warrengreig5556]

Difficult to tell difference with all the effects.

[@petestaint8312]

Gibson sounds better but not by much. Donner held their own. 👍

[@user-nu6cg9cb2e]

I would have bet money that guitar b was the Gibson

[@strangfangers]

Personally... I would buy the Donner, then take it to one of many talented luthiers in my area then at some point down the road I would visit Fralin Pickups (Richmond, VA). Six Grand is absolute nonsense, 'nough said.

[@mainsblanches8793]

Goes to show that "branding" is the most significant feature at Gibson!...

[@peterm3964]

I couldn’t tell .

[@daveydoodle1916]

Dinner change the pick ups.Donner had some sounds that I liked better.

[@guylainecollett7943]

Honestly, I can't tell any difference in the sound on my end, the Donner sounds just as good as the Gibson, with that said however, if the Donner pups were replaced with the Seymour Duncan 4 wire pups, it would sound fantastic. The Gibson guitars are way over priced, and way over rated, and all of the BIG name buyers and players of music is why a poor person cannot afford them.

[@ekin6082]

Gibson is a better instrument without question. But obviously not 10-times-the-price better. If the price difference was 150 USD maximum I would go for Gibson but this is a ridiculous price difference.

[@andystagger2906]

I have a Harley Benton 35plus and it sounds better than my Epiphone Dot❤

[@keremkandemir9971]

Gibson is just a little punchy becouse of hum output maybe, sounds are very very similar. For 5k usd difference, sorry donner is very good choice🤘

[@junito1957]

JUST THE GUITAR BODY IT COST THE SAME ADD THE HARD WARE AND YOU ADD $500 GOT THE GIBSON THE REST IS OF THE $4,100 IS FOR THE NAME GIBSON

[@vineyardsaker6195]

The best choice would be an Ibanez AS-93 😉

[@mikelrodriguez4610]

NEVER BUY ONE OF THIS!! After buying one, and test that the frets were not leveled (unplayable guitar), I sent it back (Donner policy allows it and refund it). After sending the guitar (checked with courier) and tell me that I was to be reimbursed, they say they have not received the guitar and don`t send me the money. More than 2 months ago...🤮

[@SoulForty5Music]

The difference in sound is so minor that its hard to justify spending an additional $4,500. I will most likely never own a Gibson. I dont see why I should.

[@MattKellyMusic]

it’s all about feeling for me. it’s a world of difference

[@chrisdsouza3842]

its called diminishing returns and i feel yah on that - i generally think 2K is what i would be comfortable to spend on an "expensive" guitar beyond that the returns do not justify the increase in cost the more it goes up

[@razor961000]

Just ordered one of these $385 aud !

[@lionscircle4700]

what do you think of the guitar? I bought a 335 clone but it has a mahogany center instead of maple. Best thing I did ffor it was replace out the tailpiece, bridge and bushings holding both of them. Now the guitar body really resonates when I strum or hold a note.

[@NicholasANappiNick]

People forget Gibson invented the 335 and everything else is a forgery.that’s like painting a picture and calling it a Mona Lisa 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@congerscott6064]

I like the donner and so does my wallet.

[@capt.danger1862]

Unless you’re gonna be playing on hit records, get the cheap one

[@NevilleThornton-ge1gw]

This guy is a gibson bloke no matter what he thinks of other guitars iv played the gibson 135 not overly impressed with it

[@officiallyrenegade]

With one of these guitars you buy cheap materials, that are produced in china on mass. the other one is an american handcrafted guitar made with high quality materials from a brand, that had an still has a huge influence on music history. Even if the guitars sound exactly even (which will never work), its still worth it, to buy a Gibson or a Fender guitar. Its not only an instrument, its an investment. The value of a high quality product made out of very good material will always stay up and probably will raise over the years. I bought my Gibson Les Paul last year and if i would sell it, I probably would get the same price I paid a year ago. If I would sell a used Donner guitar, I probably would only get 50% of the prize.

[@RobVespa]

I toured the Gibson factory in Memphis. It was a fun time. That typed, the geographical location doesn't matter regarding build quality.

[@bandit4915]

Remember the Fake Rolex watches from the 80's or the Zirconium diamond rings. You get what you pay for .....Just because it looks like the real thing doesn't mean it is. Most of these cheap guitars are made using cheap labor in 3rd world countries or slave labor in China. If you take one of these Bargain Guitars to a decent Luthier , he would suggest leveling the frets , replacing the Nut and replacing the cheap pickups. Do yourself a favor and spend $200. more on an Epiphone , Ibanez or a Sire and get a better guitar to start with.

[@MattKellyMusic]

Boooooooo

[@RobVespa]

Not kosher. Consider done getting learned.

[@dimitrioskarastamatis4919]

I'm not so sure the Gibson is better, or that Donner is for beginners, how do you reach that conclusion, no sense. There's someone on the internet that recently sold his Gibson Custom shop 335 for the Donner, he claims it's a better, this s not a beginner's guitar, it's just reasonably priced! Many so-called beginner guitars are better than many so-called professional guitars and guitarist are realizing this fact now!